Treated substrates, such as textile substrates, for use as cleaning wipes are known in the prior art. There are numerous examples in the patent literature of cleaning compositions and cleaning wipes treated therewith.
For example, GB 0014574 to Sereny describes a flexible article useful as a washing or cleaning cloth. The article is comprised of a sheet of paper impregnated with a wet strength agent which provides increases strength to the article when wet and which leaves the article fully flexible. The wet strength agent is a polymerized resin such as melamine or urea formaldehyde.
WO 97/42005 to Beardsley et al. discloses a nonwoven abrasive article which includes fine abrasive particles adhered to the fibers of the article in specific distribution pattern. Urea formaldehyde resin may be used as an adhesive material for holding the fine abrasive particles on the surface of the nonwoven article. The articles are useful in abrasive applications such as the finishing and polishing of metal, wood and plastic surfaces.
EP 1410753 A1 to Maldonado et al. discloses an abrasive cleaning article having fine abrasive particles (e.g. aluminum oxide) and microencapsules of an aromatizing substance contained in urea formaldehyde walls (e.g. polyoxymethyleneurea walls). The fine abrasive particles and microencapsules are distributed throughout the nonwoven web of fiber. The microencapsules are designed to be broken during normal use of the article so that perfume contained within the microencapsule may be released to the environment. The article is made for use in home, industrial and skin care applications.
US Patent Application No. 2005/0113277 to Sherry et al. discloses hard surface cleaning compositions, compositions with cleaning liquid composition on a substrate, compositions used with absorbent pads and implements and devices for making the process of cleaning hard surfaces and/or maintaining their appearance and hygiene easier and more effective. The composition includes multiple chemical components including, for example, hydrophilic polymer and optionally, surfactant, organic cleaning solvent, co-surfactant, and thickening polymer. The composition may be applied to a hard surface for soil prevention and prevention of soil build-up. The composition may also be added to a substrate to create a pre-moistened cleaning wipe.
One particularly useful absorbent particulate is urea formaldehyde polymer particles (also referred to herein as “U/F polymer particles”). Urea formaldehyde chemistry has also been used by the textile industry to crosslink fibers to produce durable press finish fabrics made of viscose, linen or cotton. The principle function of urea formaldehyde chemistry finish in these applications is to provide stiffness and elastic resilience to a treated fabric. The most common application method for such a durable press finish has been a pad coating of reactive urea formaldehyde intermediates followed by heat dry and heat cure procedures. However, there are several inherent problems associated with the use of urea formaldehyde as a durable press finish in this manner. These problems include greying during washing and loss of strength and yellowing of a treated textile substrate. Urea formaldehyde polymer particles, as described herein, are not formed by the procedure described above.
By taking advantage of the undesirable attributes of urea formaldehyde chemistry previously described, along with the unique accentuating attributes associated with urea formaldehyde in the form of a small particle with high surface area, these free flowing particles ideal for use as cleaning agents. However, when the particles are used to clean surfaces, such as a carpeted floorcovering article, an additional process step is required in order to remove the U/F polymer particle from the article. By binding these high surface area particles to a textile substrate, for example, a cleaning wipe may be produced that eliminates the need for any additional removal steps which provides a desirable advantage over the prior art use of urea formaldehyde as a cleaning agent. Cleaning wipes used in this manner retain the desirable absorbing characteristics of the free flowing particles and have effective surface area far greater than that possible by fiber or foam structures of the prior art.
More specifically, this invention permits the use of U/F polymer particles in such a way that takes advantage of what has previously been deemed problematic, while in the form of a non-particulate coating. The propensity of the urea formaldehyde chemistry to “grey” is beneficial in the case of cleaning and is accentuated further by increasing the surface area via particle formation. In the form of a cleaning wipe, this increased “greying” or coloration (contrasting with its substrate) may be used as a visual cue that stains are being removed from soiled surfaces and retained by the cleaning wipe or fixed particles. Thus, the visual cue provides evidence that soiled surfaces are being cleaned. The absorbing particulates also provide a surface with non-scratching abrasion for enhanced mechanical cleaning.
In summary, this invention takes advantage of the highly absorbent nature of certain particulate materials, such as U/F polymer particles, via the application of these particulate materials to a substrate, such as a textile substrate. One exemplary end-use product may be a cleaning wipe that easily and effectively cleans, with a non-scratching abrasive surface, a variety of soiled surfaces and provides a visual cue as evidence of its cleaning efficacy. The cleaning composition of the present invention may be applied to substrates using relatively simple and inexpensive application processes.